Tracking Drain Closure Device that Rotates between Open and Closed.

ABSTRACT

A drain closure device for a vessel such as a bathtub or sink is provided. The drain closure device comprises a stopper fitted with a sealing gasket and equipped with track followers on a vertical post capped with a horizontal stopper, plus a flanged pipe emanating from said stopper that fits to the drainage hole in a vessel. The device is operable to be concentrically disposed with a hole in the bottom of the vessel. Rotation of the stopper causes travel of the followers on the stem to rise against the track cut into the interior of the flanged pipe. Resistance to closure when opened is provided by a terminal rest stop for each track follower on the upper part of the track. No springs, pins, or resistance seals are used. Reverse rotation of the stopper causes reverse travel of the followers back down the track to a low resting place located to effect closure of the horizontal stopper atop the flange of the pipe resting on the perimeter of the vessel hole. Once in place, the drain closure occupies the drain hole in the bottom of the vessel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

No cross reference is made to other applications.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OF DEVELOPMENT

No Federal Government support was received in the development of thisInvention.

SEQUENCE LISTING, TABLE, OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING

No sequence listing, table, or computer program is attached oraccompanies this Application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a drain closure for a vessel, and moreparticularly a drain closure incorporating a rising track within a pipeinternal wall to direct track followers to effect opening and closure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A bath or sink, herein “vessel”, is drained by a “drain closure”assembly. The upper portion of this assembly consists of a “stopper”,which is fastened to a “strainer” by a plurality of methods. The“strainer” itself is a flanged pipe that threads through a vessel drainhole into further pipes beneath the bath to direct drain water out ofthe “vessel” via the bottom perforation of this flanged pipe withfurther “linkage” to a drain pipe. Said linkage usually consists of anexternal thread on the outer wall of the strainer pipe threading into aninternal thread of a fitting beneath the bath. The upper flange on the“strainer” cup rim pulls on the rim of the vessel drain hole to hold thefitting beneath the vessel tightly to the underside of the vessel. Aplurality of seals for this juncture are encountered in the field.Common “drain closures” include rubber stoppers, spring loaded devices,and pin capture devices. Often “cross hairs”, a horizontal crossfeature, is affixed to the interior of the strainer pipe.

In the early days of plumbed baths, a rubber stopper was used to retainwater in a vessel. Since “stopper” implies a resistance fit, thisterminology has evolved to “drain closure” to also include severalcategories of devices that effect closure with a sealing “gasket” thatlies atop the “strainer” flange inside the vessel to effect closure. The“open” position of a drain closure must include a mechanism whereby,when in open position, the drain stays open in opposition to the forceof the head of draining water within the vessel that naturally operatesto close the drain and seal the gasket or similar seal.

More advanced stopper drain closures include Fairchild (U.S. Pat. No.1,300,593: Apr. 15, 1919) and Leduc (U.S. Pat. No. 1,403,423: Jan. 10,1922). These devices indicate a rudimentary initiative to include newconvenient functionalities of a drain closure. Here, the plugs havefeatures to prevent removal.

A number of patents describe assemblies including a spring to enable aneasy transition from open position of the drain to closed position ofthe drain. Watts (U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,877: Jan. 26, 1988) patented the“push pull” drain which maintains an open position using a sprung ballbearing. The advantage of this design is that the fraction of thestrainer volume occupied by the “stem” of the “push pull” is small andinterferes less with drain flow when open. The disadvantage of smallsprings used is the eventual failure to maintain an open positionagainst the head pressure of liquid being drained from the vessel.

Kivela (U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,762: Dec. 8, 1959) describes a device whichmakes use of a coil spring centered around the “stem” axis. Such an openspring device is easily fouled by hair and other debris. The springlongitudinal to the “stem” axis, when combined with a catch system,resulted in the evolution of two standard drain closures. The first is“pop up” using a large axial spring and a ballpoint pen clicker barrel,as in Petursson (U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,980: Feb. 6, 1968). The other isthe unpatented “clicker” device which uses a planar track instead of thepen clicker barrel to maintain an open position in opposition to thehead of draining liquid. Both of these devices occupy a large fractionof the volume within the “strainer”, potentially slowing liquid drainagefrom the vessel. All drain closures relying upon a spring have a limitedfunctional life.

Hobbs (U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,397: Mar. 16, 1999) describes a device whichavoids all springs and instead relies upon lifting and turning of the“stem” axis to capture a projecting pin. While this design avoids theshorter life span of springs and the volume occupied by sprung devices,it is delicate in that the user of a bath can ruin the device by simplystanding upon it and breaking the pin.

Provision of a drain closure other than a simple resistance fit stopperreflects a number of objectives for a drain closure; namely,

(1) The closure must be able to be manipulated between a closed positionand an open position.

(2) The open position of the drain closure must be able to withstandwithout closing the head pressure of the liquid being drained from thevessel.

(3) The drain closure must not occupy too great a volume of the strainerin order to not unduly impede drainage flow.

(4) Potential for fouling of the drain closure by hair and debris shouldbe minimized.

(5) The drain closure must be robust.

(6) Manipulation must be ergonomically efficient.

Despite a range of drain closures being available for vessels such asbaths and sinks, none of them satisfy all of these requirements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an objection of this invention to at least partiallyovercome some of the disadvantages of the prior art.

In a preferred embodiment, the horizontal stopper is circular with adomed surface on the upper side. On the underside of the stopper is amounting zone for an annular gasket seal as well as a pipe into whichthe stopper is inserted. Alternately, an o-ring may be mounted in agrove to effect close against the upper interior of the strainer pipe.Ergonomic features including knobs can be added to the dome surface toaid in rotation by hand or foot. The post itself has several features,one the vertical post equipped with a plurality of horizontal trackfollowers issuing perpendicular to the post, two a thread or otherfixture that secures the horizontal stopper by a plurality of means tothe top end of the post, and three optional terminal features extendingdown from the bottom end of the post that effect remote actuation ifrequired. The horizontal track followers are inserted into verticaltracks in the inner wall of the strainer pipe and lifted and rotated toclear a stop against counterclockwise motion. This strainer in turnthreads through the perforation at the bottom of the vessel into areceiving fitting to drain the vessel liquid away. Optionally, a boltcan be threaded through the post center from the bottom and fixed with aplurality of means underneath the strainer to allow for remoteactuation. Although simple, this assembly enables all six of thedrainage functionalities to be realized; namely:

(1) The closure must be able to be manipulated to a closed position andan open position:

This is achieved through the application of horizontal torque on thecircumference of the horizontal stopper to effect travel of the trackfollowers clockwise up and counter clockwise down the track on theinternal wall of the flanged pipe strainer.

(2) The open position of the drain closure must be able to withstand,without closing, the head pressure of the liquid draining from thevessel:

At the uppermost position of the internal track there are terminalresting features in which the projections from the upper stem part mayrest and resist force to move it back down the internal track.

(3) The drain closure must not occupy too great a volume of the strainerin order to not unduly impede drainage flow: With no springs orcrosshairs the diameter of the post of the tracking drain closure issmall.

(4) Potential for fouling of the drain closure by hair and debris shouldbe minimized: Easy removal of the tracking drain stopper allows forcomplete access for cleaning.

(5) The drain closure must be robust:

With no springs or pins this design is robust.

(6) Manipulation must be ergonomically efficient:

Application of rotational force on the outer rim of the stopper resultsin good torque owing to the distance between the outer rim and the stemaxis, allowing for easy rotation.

In a preferred embodiment, the flanged strainer is first fed through thehole in the bottom of the vessel. The upper flange on the strainerallows the strainer to hang freely on the vessel interior. Underneaththe vessel a sealing gasket is applied to the upper flange of a fittinginto which the strainer threads for a waterproof attachment. The drainclosure stopper is then introduced into the tracks on the internal wallof the strainer. Alternately, an existing strainer with a broken stoppercan be used, wherein the old stopper is removed and a new trackingstrainer affixed by a plurality of methods, including glue, to the oldstrainer, and the new stopper inserted into this new tracking strainer.In this repair case, no external thread is necessary on the externalwall of the strainer.

Further aspects of the invention will become apparent upon reading thefollowing detailed description and drawings, which illustrate theinvention and preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which illustrate embodiments of the invention:

FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of the tracking drainage closure inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross section of the tracking drain closure,showing the ascending track and track followers in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the stopper in the tracking drain closure,illustrating the plurality of track followers in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 (a) is an isometric view showing the lowest part of the trackwithin the strainer when stopper is closed in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention:

FIG. 4 (b) an alternate isometric view showing the terminal feature formaintaining the stopper in an open position in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, a drainage closure device is shown in anexploded isometric view. The horizontal top 1 allows for turning of theassembly to open and close the stopper. At least one track follower 2protrudes from the vertical post 3. An optional bolt 4 hangs from thebottom of the post 3 in order to enable remote actuation when necessary.A vertical track 5 allows for dropping in of the stopper in preparationfor aligning the horizontal track followers to follow the track 6 in theinternal wall of the strainer. A flange 7 of the flanged strainer holdsthe strainer on the inner perimeter of the hole in the bottom of avessel, and a pipe 8 serves both to support the internal track as wellas being attached by a plurality of methods to a fixture fittingbeneath. While the threading of an external thread on the pipe into aninternal thread on a fitting beneath the fixture vessel is the a commonmethod, an unthreaded pipe may be glued into an existing flangedstrainer.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a vertical cross section of the tracking drainclosure shows the horizontal stop 1 threaded by virtue of a thread mate9 to a vertical post, although a multiplicity of joining methods isused. A flange 9 lays atop and seals against a flange 7 to prevent waterpassage when the drain closure is in the closed position. Horizontaltrack follower or followers 2 rise up and down a sloped track inscribedinto the internal wall of the strainer pipe 5. Supports 11 for the trackfollowers prevent breakage of the followers. An optional bolt 4 isthreaded into the bottom of the post by a thread mate 13 or a pluralityof alternative fixing methods. This bolt 4 can be joined to a remoteactuation assembly. A nut 12 fixes the bolt in place, although aplurality of fixing methods may be used to effect this joining.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a side view of the stopper alone, a horizontalstopper top 1 is affixed by a plurality of methods to a vertical post 3.The stopper 1 supports the attachment of a sealing flange 10. At leastone horizontal track follower 2 emanates from the vertical post at anappropriate height to effect opening and closing of the flange 10against the strainer flange, and a bolt 4 affixed by a plurality ofmethods to the bottom of the vertical post 3, and fixed at a givenheight by a plurality of fixing methods exemplified by a nut 4, allowsfor attachment to a remote actuation assembly not illustrated ordescribed herein.

Referring now to FIG. 4( a), an isometric view of the strainer alone, avertical track 5 terminates proximal to a hump 15 impeding rotation ofthe vertical track follower around and up the track on the internal wallof the pipe. By lifting and turning the stopper, the track follower canclear this hump and then follow the track around and up. The purpose ofthis hump is to prevent the track follower from reversing into thevertical track upon closure of the stopper.

Referring now to FIG. 4( b), an alternate isometric view of the samestrainer shows the internal track 6 ascending to a resting place 17 forthe horizontal track followers to terminate in, allowing the stopper toresist the downward head pressure of liquid draining from the vessel.

What is claimed is:
 1. A drain closure device for mounting to a strainerdefining a fluid passage with a flange extending outwardly about anupper end thereof, said drain closure device comprising: a stopperhaving a sealing member for sealing against said flange depending fromsaid stopper; a horizontal stopper supporting a vertical post, saidstopper being rotatable about a stopper axis; a guide track inscribed onthe internal wall of said flange for extending about and receiving atleast a portion of horizontal track followers depending from said postfor relative rotational and longitudinal sliding movement therebetweenrespectively about and along said stopper axis; said guide track furtherdefining an cam surface; a cam track follower extending from said stemfor following said cam surface in response to rotation of said stopperabout said stopper axis, said cam surface being profiled to cause axialmovement of said sealing member between an open configuration away fromsaid guide track, and a closed configuration toward said guide track;said cam surface including a resting place for maintaining said stopperin said open configuration absent rotational input to said stopper.
 2. Adrain closure device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said post is providedwith horizontal track followers for acting against said guide trackretaining said stopper in said guide track.
 3. A drain closure device asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said sealing member has a gasket affixedthereto for sealing against said flange in said closed configuration toimpede fluid flow into said passage.